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CLERMONT, Fla. – West Chester scored a pair of runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to break a tie and go on to a 6-2 victory over Limestone and salvage a split of its two softball games at the National Training Center Thursday morning.
West Chester (12-9) also dropped an 8-6 decision to New Haven earlier in the morning. The Golden Rams’ win over Limestone in the second contest ended a three-game slide on the school’s spring break trip to the Sunshine State.
Jess Russ hit a RBI single and Nicole Cruts hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth to put West Chester on top 4-2 over Limestone. Abby Block was hit by a pitch to lead off the sixth, and pinch runner Ashley Ford came around to score one run in the sixth. Megan Kelly later doubled down the left field line and would eventually score on a passed ball to push the lead to 6-2.
Devon Utterback (5-4) tossed a complete-game, five-hitter to earn the win in the circle. She gave up two runs, only one of them earned, walked one and struck out one. It was her first win on spring break following a pair of losses to Cedarville and Saint Leo.
Cruts hit a two-run double in the bottom of the first to put West Chester in front 2-1. However, Limestone tied things in the fourth with a single tally. Cruts finished 1-for-2 with three RBI against the Saints.
Russ was 2-for-3 with a run scored, and Megan Kelly scored two runs in the win.
In the loss to New Haven, West Chester jumped out to a 6-0 lead after two innings. However, the Chargers busted off a seven-run rally with two outs in the sixth inning to come all the way back and earn a 8-6 victory.
A pair of errors in the sixth led to four unearned runs for New Haven, who avenged a 2-1 defeat at the hands of West Chester earlier in the week. Kim Murl (4-5) was the hard-luck loser coming on in relief of starter Kate Skokowski in the sixth. The first batter Murl faced reached on an error, and the Golden Rams should have been out of the inning with a 6-4 lead.
Skokowski had allowed just one run on four hits and walked two until she ran into trouble in the sixth.
Jess Schuck finished 2-for-3, including a three-run homer in the first that helped stake West Chester to its 6-0 lead after two. The Rams’ five-thru-eight hitters in the lineup were a combined 8-for-12 with four RBI while the first four hitters in the order went a combined 2-for-15 with one RBI. The Golden Rams stranded 10 runners on base in the game.
West Chester concludes its southern swing on Friday with games against St. Michael’s and Alderson-Broaddus in the morning.
